Stefan Haemmig1, Viorel Simion, Dafeng Yang, Yihuan Deng, Mark W Feinberg. 1. aCardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA bDepartment of Cardiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan cDepartment of Cardiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as powerful regulators of nearly all biological processes. Their cell-type and tissue-specific expression in health and disease provides new avenues for diagnosis and therapy. This review highlights the role of lncRNAs that are involved in cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a special focus on cell types involved in cardiac injury and remodeling, vascular injury, angiogenesis, inflammation, and lipid metabolism. RECENT FINDINGS: Almost 98% of the genome does not encode for proteins. LncRNAs are among the most abundant type of RNA in the noncoding genome. Accumulating studies have uncovered novel lncRNA-mediated regulation of CVD-associated genes, signaling pathways, and pathophysiological responses. Targeting lncRNAs in vivo using short antisense oligonucleotides or by gene editing has provided important insights into disease pathogenesis through epigenetic, transcriptional, or translational mechanisms. Although cross-species conservation still remains a major obstacle, there is increasing appreciation that altered expression of lncRNAs associates with stage-specific CVD and in human patient cohorts, providing new opportunities for diagnosis and therapy. SUMMARY: A better understanding of lncRNAs will not only fundamentally improve our understanding of key signaling pathways in CVD, but also aid in the development of effective new therapies and RNA-based biomarkers.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as powerful regulators of nearly all biological processes. Their cell-type and tissue-specific expression in health and disease provides new avenues for diagnosis and therapy. This review highlights the role of lncRNAs that are involved in cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a special focus on cell types involved in cardiac injury and remodeling, vascular injury, angiogenesis, inflammation, and lipid metabolism. RECENT FINDINGS: Almost 98% of the genome does not encode for proteins. LncRNAs are among the most abundant type of RNA in the noncoding genome. Accumulating studies have uncovered novel lncRNA-mediated regulation of CVD-associated genes, signaling pathways, and pathophysiological responses. Targeting lncRNAs in vivo using short antisense oligonucleotides or by gene editing has provided important insights into disease pathogenesis through epigenetic, transcriptional, or translational mechanisms. Although cross-species conservation still remains a major obstacle, there is increasing appreciation that altered expression of lncRNAs associates with stage-specific CVD and in humanpatient cohorts, providing new opportunities for diagnosis and therapy. SUMMARY: A better understanding of lncRNAs will not only fundamentally improve our understanding of key signaling pathways in CVD, but also aid in the development of effective new therapies and RNA-based biomarkers.
Authors: Lesca M Holdt; Anika Stahringer; Kristina Sass; Garwin Pichler; Nils A Kulak; Wolfgang Wilfert; Alexander Kohlmaier; Andreas Herbst; Bernd H Northoff; Alexandros Nicolaou; Gabor Gäbel; Frank Beutner; Markus Scholz; Joachim Thiery; Kiran Musunuru; Knut Krohn; Matthias Mann; Daniel Teupser Journal: Nat Commun Date: 2016-08-19 Impact factor: 14.919